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Friday Night Practice

Both Troy and Ben look sharp. Ben is accurate and Troy has flashed some of that speed that makes him special. Ben was seen after practice with a wrap on his knee but it did not appear to be anything serious.
Veterans Keisel,Spaeth and Worilds did not practice tonight.
Adams and Gilbert did switch positions and they both looked solid. Gilbert moved well in pass protection today.
Justin Brown again stood out on punt returns and in a goal line play where he laid out for and made a TD catch and the crowd gave him a big cheer. Our wr's continue to impress and Wheaton is the top rookie in this talented group.
Today rookie lb Terence Garvin flashed a few times in back on backers and in pass coverage. He is lean but has some quicks. On the down side Curtis Mcneal had a difficult time pass blocking as did LSH.
In the back on backers Timmons and Bell went head to head and I would say they split the match. If Bell can block, and today he was fine, he will play a bunch as he caught everything today again and he has shown the ability to cut it back at least in practice.
Paulson and Jones were matched up a few times today and each had their moments. Back up TE Jamie McCoy played well getting extra reps with Spaeth out.
Shamarko Thomas was working against the slot receivers in dime packages or this new "big quarter" 3cb & 3 safeties and
has looked good. He rushed the passer from the slot and showed good speed as well as the ability to lower his shoulder and get under the blocker. I'm sure we will see that again this season. Gay was starting at corner and looked fair.
Fullback Will Johnson is being used in the passing game. He caught about 5 check downs today with no drops.
Mike Golic Sr. was at camp watching Golic Jr. Golic has been working with the 3rd string and I;ll leave it at that.
No serious injuries so that was a plus.

• Mike Tomlin preaches the importance of situational football, and that was the highlight of Friday's late afternoon practice at St. Vincent. The Steelers practiced their two-minute offense for the first time this camp, but it was safety Troy Polamalu who stole the show. Polamalu made two impressive plays that suggest the veteran safety is all the way back from a calf injury that plagued him a year ago. Polamalu chased down Antonio Brown in the backfield on a wide-receiver screen on the first play of the drill and smacked the ball away from Brown near the goal line on the final play to keep the offense out of the end zone. Ben Roethlisberger went 5 of 9 for 45 yards and came up short on back-to-back passes in the end zone to Brown. With five seconds left, Ike Taylor was called for pass interference in the end zone on Brown, forcing an untimed down from the 15-yard line in which Polamalu batted away on a quick slant intended for Brown again.

• The Steelers continued to mix up drills during training camp with a goal-line passing drill that was dominated by the offense. The prettiest catch of the period was Brown's acrobatic back-shoulder fade from Roethlisberger that bounced in the air before coming to rest in Brown's hands with Taylor hanging all over him. During the same drill, rookie receiver Justin Brown made safety Ryan Clark look foolish when Brown faked outside and caught a short touchdown pass over the middle.

• Tomlin said to not read anything into it, but he moved his tackles around, flipping Marcus Gilbert to the right and Mike Adams to the left. The two stayed at their positions throughout the entire practice. They are expected to return to their normal positions Saturday.

• Cornerback Curtis Brown filled in for the injured Cortez Allen at cornerback and continued to struggle. He was beat a number of times during individual and team drills.

• Sure, the Steelers want use a lot of zone blocking this year, but they still can run the power. That was evident when guard Ramon Foster pulled and opened a hole for Le'Veon Bell to get through for a long gain.